Technoblogy
technoblogy.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2016
Technoblogy is David Johnson-Davies' site of small microcontroller projects, mostly AVR and ATtiny, and the uLisp Lisp interpreter.
What HN saysHN commenters praise the variety and ingenuity of its hands-on projects and enjoy uLisp, which fits in a single file and runs on small boards.
29HN people shared it
15linked it in comments
57stories submitted
1.2Kstory points
7 months agolast shared
2016people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Lisp Badge – Self-contained ATmega1284 Lisp computer5 people · 241 points · first shared 2019 · 25 comments on HN
- 2Tiny Lisp Computer5 people · 159 points · first shared 2016 · 25 comments on HN
- 3Tiny Lisp Computer 24 people · 22 points · first shared 2016 · 2 comments on HN
- 4Visible Lisp Computer3 people · 155 points · first shared 2019 · 9 comments on HN
- 5Lisp Badge LE3 people · 2 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 6The ATtiny 2-Series2 people · 13 points · first shared 2022 · discussion on HN
- 7Learn the basics of digital electronics with the hands-on Logic Lab kit2 people · 3 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 8Power Deliverer2 people · 2 points · first shared 2022 · discussion on HN
- 9ATtiny-Based Beginner's Kit2 people · 1 points · first shared 2018 · discussion on HN
- 10Homepage2 people · first shared 2021
- 11Walkie-Textie Wireless Communicator1 people · 182 points · first shared 2025 · 126 comments on HN
- 12Sound Lab – A Simple Analogue Synthesiser1 people · 115 points · first shared 2024 · 19 comments on HN
- 13Scrolling Text Display1 people · 73 points · first shared 2024 · 10 comments on HN
- 14Mega Tiny Time Watch: a minimalist watch based on an ATtiny414 and 12 LEDs1 people · 63 points · first shared 2020 · 10 comments on HN
- 15AM Morse-Code Transmitter1 people · 37 points · first shared 2022 · 17 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
incanus77 · 2022-07-25
I love the sheer variety, ingenuity, and even photography of these largely AVR projects:
http://www.technoblogy.com
lioeters · 2021-05-04
Big fan of uLisp, I got it running on an ESP8266. Love how the whole language fits in a single file, making it easy to hack around.
Recently I learned how the author generates the uLisp variants for different platforms using Common Lisp:
https://github.com/technoblogy/ulisp-builder
..And an accompanying article to describe how it works:
uLisp Builder - http://www.ulisp.com/show?3F07
Also, a treasure trove of other Arduino and AVR projects by the author here:
http://www.technoblogy.com/
murkle · 2018-03-15
This is properly hands-on as you have to make something :)
http://www.technoblogy.com/show?NMX
Click on the ATTiny85 tag for more projects. I've made / adapted quite a few of those. Great fun and challenging!
privong · 2023-10-15
In case folks are interested, the creator of this has recently made a new version, the "Lisp Badge LE": http://www.technoblogy.com/show?3Z2Y
Some previous discussion of the "Lisp Badge LE" on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37682273
niutech · 2023-03-13
You can use an I2C SD Card Module: http://www.technoblogy.com/show?3Y2L
or use zlib to compress text data: https://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/library/zlib.html
johnsondavies · 2022-07-25
> What draws people to start projects with AVR in 2022?
It's much easier to learn how to do simple things with an AVR than with an ARM. For example, you can configure a timer to blink an LED with just four relatively simple lines of C on an AVR-based Arduino Uno, whereas it takes 11 lines of C on an ARM-based Arduino Zero:
http://www.technoblogy.com/show?3RC9
thebruce87m · 2020-07-11
The Wikipedia article you linked has a section on PWM, with a linked example for 12 LEDs on an ATtiny85:
http://www.technoblogy.com/show?2H0K
lnyan · 2020-07-05
It's a DIY
Here are the details about how to build one: http://www.technoblogy.com/show?2AEE
zokier · 2019-01-11
Seems like result of iterative design from breadboarded 328p[1] to breadboarded 1284[2] to finally this. Nothing wrong with that per se, but I do see ways of iterating the design even further.
[1] http://www.technoblogy.com/show?1GX1
[2] http://www.technoblogy.com/show?1INT
eggy · 2019-01-11
What does femtolisp have compared to ulisp?
Also there is this board, Lisp Badge that runs ulisp and has a keyboard and screen on the pcb board!
http://www.technoblogy.com/show?2AEE
bb88 · 2018-12-29
> it really doesn't matter exactly which language happens to be one's very first programming language.
I'm not so sure.
Here's an example of blinking an led with Lisp:
http://www.technoblogy.com/show?1GX1
And here's one using python:
https://www.modmypi.com/blog/gpio-and-python-39-blinking-led
If I were my 12 year old me, I would probably enjoy the second more than the first.
troupe · 2017-09-28
So I know this isn't what you are talking about, but you might find this interesting in terms of a machine that you interact with using lisp. It is basically a very small computer using an Arduino chip as the processor:
http://www.technoblogy.com/show?1INT
eriknstr · 2016-09-10
The article links to http://www.technoblogy.com/list?1GLV calling it the full code listing for this Tiny Lisp Computer, however, that link leads to code for a ATtiny841 "I2C Display Module" which is from the "Make your own I2C peripherals" blog post at http://www.technoblogy.com/show?1G29. Hope the author sees this so he can change the link to be the correct one.
brudgers · 2018-02-10
Direct link, http://www.technoblogy.com/show?1INT